Information and Control Preferences and Their Relationship With the Knowledge Received Among European Joint Arthroplasty Patients

Seija Klemetti, Helena Leino-Kilpi, Andreas Charalambous, Panagiota Copanitsanou, Brynja Ingadottir, Natalja Istomina, Jouko Katajisto, Mitra Unosson, Adelaida Zabalegui, Kirsi Valkeapää

The prevalence of joint arthroplasties is increasing internationally, putting increased emphasis on patient education. This study describes information and control preferences of patients with joint arthroplasty in seven European countries, and explores their relationships with patients' received knowledge. The data (n = 1,446) were collected during 2009-2012 with the Krantz Health Opinion Survey and the Received Knowledge of Hospital Patient scale. European patients with joint arthroplasty had low preferences. Older patients had less information preferences than younger patients (p = .0001). In control preferences there were significant relationships with age (p = .021), employment in healthcare/social services (p = .033), chronic illness (p = .002), and country (p = .0001). Received knowledge of the patients did not have any relationships with information preferences. Instead, higher control preferences were associated with less received knowledge. The relationship between European joint arthroplasty patients' preferences and the knowledge they have received requires further research.